Industrial robot arms and ISO 10218:2025: security questions to ask

On 17 February 2025 trade press reported that the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) had announced the updated ISO 10218, the global industrial robot safety standard. It is the first major revision since 2011, after nearly eight years of development.

Safeguard does not control robots. This post is about what the added cybersecurity content means for the software you buy, integrate and maintain.

What's affected

The revision is split in two: Part 1 covers safety requirements for robot manufacturers, and Part 2 covers requirements for integrators and applications. Changes include clearer functional safety requirements, collaborative robot guidance that now incorporates material from ISO/TS 15066, new guidance on manual loading and end effectors, and updated classifications and testing. It also adds "cybersecurity measures for industrial robots," in the trade report's words. I could not read the standard's cybersecurity clauses, which are sold, so this post does not describe them.

How to check if you're exposed

Whether or not you buy the standard, a robot cell is software from several parties: the controller, the teach pendant, the vendor's libraries, the integrator's application and any added vision or AI components. Ask for:

1. A component list for the controller and pendant software
2. The vendor's process for reporting and fixing vulnerabilities
3. How updates are delivered and how long they are provided
4. What network services the cell exposes and which can be switched off

What to do now

1. Add those four items to your purchase specification.
2. Generate a bill of materials for your own application code in the cell.
3. Scan both lists for known vulnerabilities and record the date.
4. Keep the safety function out of the update path of general software, and test any update off line before it touches a running cell.

Why it matters

Safety and security meet at the update. A change to controller software can alter behavior near people. Treat updates as controlled changes with approvals and logs, and keep an inventory so you know what runs where.

Try it yourself

Generate an SBOM for an application and see what a component list looks like in practice.

Click through it at your own pace, or open it full screen.

Quick check

Sources

• MMH, Industrial robot safety standards get major updates for 2025